Wanda McClamb remembered for dedication

When she woke up from surgery two weeks before she died, the first thing 44-year-old Wanda McClamb asked for was her schoolbooks.

The UNC junior, who transferred to the University from Wake Technical Community College in 2012, kept her backpack by her hospital bed, her friend Katie Savage said.

“Who but Wanda would have her book bag at a major surgery?” said Savage, a junior political science major. “She just wanted to be well to go back to school.”

McClamb, who died of complications from a kidney transplant on Aug. 4, was studying to become a social worker. Being almost entirely blind did not prevent her from earning a near-perfect GPA her first semester at UNC.

One month after her death, UNC students are coming forward to share their memories of McClamb.

Savage met McClamb earlier this year through Advocates for Carolina, a club that works to raise acceptance of people with disabilities.

Savage, a founder of the club, said McClamb took her under her wing from the start of their friendship.

Both women were transfers to UNC and lived with physical disabilities, and they built a close relationship on their commonalities.

“Wanda always believed in me,” Savage said.

Savage and McClamb worked with the club on a photography exhibit in the Student Union last spring. The exhibit, called “This Able Life,” displayed photos and narratives of students who wanted to dissolve the stigmas associated with the idea of disability.

“I don’t let my disability be a liability,” McClamb wrote in her narrative that accompanied her photo. She wrote about the health problems she faced, including encroaching blindness, kidney failure and depression. Despite these challenges, McClamb earned top grades at Wake Tech and, later, acceptance to UNC.

“Carolina was everything to Wanda,” Savage said.

Psychology major Katie Chrismon, who met McClamb through Advocates for Carolina, said McClamb wore a UNC shirt for her photo portrait in the exhibit.

“She loved going to school here,” Chrismon said.

Even as a transfer student returning to school with a family to care for, McClamb was passionate about her studies, Chrismon said.

She said McClamb’s dedication and optimism were remarkable.

McClamb wrote in her “This Able Life” narrative that her success was due to her positive attitude.

“It has helped me be an inspiration to others who are trying to succeed with limitations,” she wrote. “My success lets others know that it doesn’t matter what disabilities you may have, with a positive attitude and hard work, it can be done.”

Savage said McClamb should be remembered for her passion for empowering students with disabilities. McClamb had faced discrimination and unkindness for her disabilities, and she wanted to keep that from happening to other people, Savage said.

“She represents so many experiences that are happening here at Carolina,” Savage said.

Sarah Jagdmann, treasurer of Advocates for Carolina, said McClamb’s bubbly personality made an impression on her the first time they met.

“Some people didn’t even know she was sick,” Jagdmann said. “She was very inspiring to all of us.”

Jagdmann said McClamb’s packed funeral service was evidence that she impacted even people who barely knew her.

“I think it’s good to share her story,” she said. “I only met her twice, but I feel like she definitely touched my life.”

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